Commercial and Residential Pest Control Services | Dodson Bros. Exterminating Co., Inc.
It can be hard to know how to begin treating an ant infestation once you discover it. After all, it’s difficult to tell where they’re coming from, and they often seem to appear spontaneously. If you get rid of them in one part of your house, they may simply start roaming through another part. Here’s what you need to know about treating your home for ants.
As is often the case with many other insects, oftentimes the best way to treat an ant infestation is to practice the preventative maintenance tasks that would normally keep them at bay, such as:
Many store-bought or DIY traps will help lure and kill ants. They are often made with sweet-smelling and sticky substances that will attract ants and then kill them in a matter of hours or days. Some people also spread substances like diatomaceous earth, boric acid, and Borax on surfaces like tables, countertops, and floors to wound and kill ants. In some cases, you may get rid of a minor ant infestation. However, oftentimes these solutions are only temporary or don’t work at all, and you must know what kind of ants you’re fighting and where their nests are in order to get rid of them completely. Even then, many ants can only be removed by professionals.
Some stores offer chemicals and pesticides that you can use to bait ants, with the intention being that ants will pick up the poison from a bait station and take it back to the nest, where the poison will spread. This does tend to be a more effective method of ant treatment, but for those who are inexperienced with laying it down or applying it, it may not work as well, and it can be dangerous. It’s best to leave ant baiting to the professionals, especially if you have children or pets in the home. Other chemical or even sonic solutions are touted as being able to repel ants, but many of these treatments are localized and aren’t necessarily guaranteed to get rid of ant problems for good.
Oftentimes, one of the best ways to treat an ant problem is to ensure that the area where they’re infesting stays clean and clear of any kind of food. This can be difficult to achieve, however, as ants aren’t always discouraged by household cleaners, and even small particles or granules of leftover food can attract ants. Also, ants are efficient creatures that are always on the move, so even if you clean up an area, they may be back once it becomes dirty again. However, it’s still a good idea to do clean up activities and properly store leftovers, as these things will also help prevent your food from becoming contaminated.
Some homeowners take it upon themselves to track down an ant infestation to the source, the nest, and use chemicals like ant sprays to destroy or clear out the entire colony. While this may be effective in some scenarios, like with smaller ants that don’t do as much harm, in others, you may simply be making the problem worse. For instance, red imported fire ants will attack you if you try to fight them or destroy their ant hills. Also, if you have carpenter ants, their nests may be inside structures that are valuable to you and that would cost a lot of money to fix. Furthermore, unless you kill the queens in an ant colony (and there are often many queens per colony), you’re not guaranteed to eradicate the whole nest.
At Dodson Pest Control, we know how to take care of ant problems. We can lay out baits and destroy nests using professional techniques, ensuring that your ant problem will end for good. We offer free inspections to help you determine the source and extent of the issue, and then we’ll create a customized treatment plan to help you get rid of them. Contact us today!
